Report: John Calipari expected to bring entire Kentucky coaching staff with him to Arkansas

John Calipari is building his first everything at Arkansas after taking the job in Fayetteville this week. However, the aspect regarding his staff in that process will be very simple based on reports about who’s coming with him from Lexington.

Per sources speaking to Matt Norlander at CBS Sports, all of Calipari’s assistants with Kentucky are expected to follow him to the Razorback bench. That includes Orlando Antigua, Chin Coleman, and Chuck Martin as assistants along with Bruiser Flint as a special assistant.

Brad Calipari, John’s son, will also be joining on in a role in the department of player development. This was previously expected after his last job, a spot on the staff at Vanderbilt, ended upon the firing of Jerry Stackhouse.

Most of these men are staffers with long-time ties and connections to Calipari over his career.

Antigua is the most-experienced with eight seasons under Calipari over two stints at Kentucky. Flint is next with four years, Coleman after that with three, and then finally Martin, who joined his staff just last season.

Antigua had first started working for Calipari at Memphis in ’08-’09. He then came as part of his first staffs at UK and spent the early years of his tenure there. From there, he left to take a head coaching role at USF before eventually landing as an assistant at Illinois. Then, in ’21-’22, Antigua returned to Calipari’s side and has been there ever since.

Coleman also came with Antigua after the two were on staff together with the Fighting Illini in Champaign. He is well-known for his work in Illinois as a coach with UIC and Bradley in college. While in Chicago, he also led Mac Irvin Fire AAU and two other high schools.

As for Flint, he goes back to Calipari’s days at UMass in the 1990s. He spent seven seasons as his assistant with the Minutemen before taking over as head coach for five years upon Calipari’s departure for the NBA. He then took over at Drexel, where he was head coach for 15 seasons, before becoming an assistant at Indiana. That’s where Calipari reconnected with him and brought him to Kentucky. He served as an assistant for one year and then as Associate to the Head Coach for the remaining three.

Martin is the least-experienced of the recent Calipari staffers after just joining his bench this year. He did so as an assistant and as a recruiting coordinator. That came after spending time on staffs at Oregon, South Carolina, and Indiana. He did spend three seasons with Calipari at Memphis, though, along with several seasons alongside Flint at both UMass and Drexel.

Brad Calipari reunites with his father after spending last year as Director of On-Court Player Development for the Commodores. He was also Director of Player Development at LIU. This comes after spending time as a graduate assistant and player under his dad at Kentucky. His playing career also included two seasons at Detroit Mercy.

The only assistant from last season that won’t be going with Calipari is John Welch. Welch, a well-respected mind in roles at the collegiate and pro levels, took an associate head coaching job at Fresno State. Per reports, he was not returning to Lexington, even if Calipari had remained as head coach of the Wildcats.

Calipari has his work cut out for him in order to build the program at Arkansas in his image. That task is much easier, though, with a carryover on his staff that will provide continuity early on in their new environment.